4.17.2.1 Production
In China, mica deposits are excavated by open-pit mining or underground mining. Rake equipment cannot be used in stopping operation in order to protect mica crystals  and the mining process should be as simple as possible. The dressing of sheet mica is done by hand picking and separation by shape and friction. Scrap mica is dressed by air separation, hydraulic cyclone separation and floatation. The mica products include 6 categories, namely, mica sheet, mica powder, mica paper, mica condensers, mica insulation products and mica electric heating elements, and nearly 30 varieties.  

For the time being, there are more than 100 productive mines and mica products manufacturing enterprises in China. But they are small in scale. There are more than ten key mines e.g. the Danba mica mine in Sichuan, and mica mines in Xinjiang. The annual production capacity of mica in China is 130,000 tons. The key mica paper- producing enterprises include the Sichuan Ya'an Mica Industrial Co.; the Hongsheng Mica Products Co. Ltd at Guangyuan of Sichuan; the Hangzhou Mica Paper Factory in Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia Zhuozi Mica Products Factory, Hubei Tongcheng Mica Products Factory and Xinjiang Beitun Mica Paper Factory, totaling 27 enterprises with 47 mica paper production lines and an annual production capacity of 13,500 tons. There are about 100 enterprises producing mica powder, mostly dry mica powder. They turn out about 40,000 tons of dry-process mica powder and about 10,000 tons of wet-process mica powder each year.  

According to the annals of the State Administration of Building Materials Industry, the output of mica industrial raw materials in 1997 was 108,000 tons, that of mica paper was more than 6,100 tons and mica powder more than 40,000 tons.  

The United States and China are the largest producers of mica scraps and flake mica. The output of mica scraps of the USA in 1995 was 104,000 tons. The mica mines in China are mostly operated by local farmers, so it is difficult to make an accurate statistics of the output.  

 The output of mica, mica paper, and mica powder of various provinces and regions from 1995 to 1997 is shown in Table 4.17.1:

Table 4.17.1 Output of mica, mica paper and mica powder in 1995~1997 (t)

4.17.2.2 Distribution of Production

The distribution of mica mines and mica products manufacturing enterprises is shown in Fig. 4.17.2 and Table 4.17.2. The mines of mica are mainly distributed in Sichuan, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Hebei, Hubei. Quality muscovite is produced mainly in Sichuan and Xinjiang. Phlogopite is produced mainly in Inner Mongolia. Today, these provinces and regions have been the key producers of mica in China.